


Mini Golf

by SassyHBIC



Series: It's Peculiar But We Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awkwardness, F/F, First Dates, Fluff, mini golf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 06:19:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2338259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassyHBIC/pseuds/SassyHBIC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha Romanov possibly hates mini golf more than the average person but she possibly loves Maria Hill’s smile even more than her high distaste for the game. And even if she didn’t (like Maria’s smile, she means, which she does) Sharon Carter would have her head if she didn’t at least try to make Maria’s smile last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mini Golf

**Author's Note:**

> So you convinced me to write the date scene and honestly I had such a fun time writing this piece. It can follow Not Quite Right but it doesn't have to associated with the other fic. I hope you enjoy this, I tried my best to make it a mix of fluff and comedy.

               Natasha Romanov possibly hates mini golf more than the average person but she possibly loves Maria Hill’s smile even more than her high distaste for the game. And even if she didn’t (like Maria’s smile, she means, which she does) Sharon Carter would have her head if she didn’t at least try to make Maria’s smile last.

*********************************************

               The cellphone (that no one has the number to except her aunt Peggy Carter and Maria Hill have) rings loudly next to Sharon’s head where it lies against her dresser. The blonde Agent 13 grumbles as she reaches blindly for it. She knows, no one but possibly three people have access to this information she listed two of them and the third is Stark, who could hack into anything, but she highly doubts it. No one knows the number, yet she’s getting a call in the middle of the night and she can’t help but want to murder whoever is daring to call her. If it was a work emergency she knows Maria would be in her apartment by now because dear god, Maria lives, sleeps, and breathes Shield work. Her friend is never more than three feet away from her phone or pager. The phone finally stops ringing and Sharon is about to fall asleep again when the ringtone rings loudly in her empty apartment.

               “Fuck,” Sharon whispers as she accepts the call. Someone better be dying or worse, if not she’d make sure that would happen to whoever was calling her. “Yes?”

_‘Carter.’_

               Of course it was fucking Natasha Romanov. Who else would it be on a Friday night at 3am?

               “Romanov, you better be dying–no…you better have found the cure for cancer, or so god help me, I will torture you worse than fucking Tony Stark is capable of being annoying for waking me up on one of the only rare nights I have off,” Sharon threatened half-awake but still managing to sound serious.

_‘Carter.’_

               “Did you find the cure for cancer?” Sharon interrupts, not in the mood to deal with Natasha’s crap.

_‘No. Carter look that’s not why—‘_

               “Nope, don’t care. Goodbye Romanov, I’ll see you on Monday. Don’t call again,” Sharon dismisses about to hang up.

_‘Sharon, fucking wait.’_

               That made Sharon pause, Natasha never calls any Agent, except for Barton, by their first names. So if she was using her first name, then she knows it must be serious.

               “What do you want Natasha?” Sharon sighs, knowing the faster she deals with her the faster she’ll be able to fall asleep.

_‘I need help with Hill.’_

               “What about Maria?” Sharon asks frowning. She sits up making herself comfortable, knowing now that the conversation was not going to be quick.

_‘I asked her to go mini golfing with me tomorrow.’_

               “I know,” Sharon points out, she wonders if it’s too early to make herself coffee. “She told me, Romanov. So what do you need?”

_‘I don’t know where to take her…I kind of got occupied and forgot to look up places to go. And I don’t know the first thing about mini golf…’_

               “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Romanov.”

_‘Look, I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you but I really need help. You of all people know how much I hate relying on others...but Coulson is away on a mission, Fury wouldn’t help, Barton is an asshole and Pepper is busy doing something for Tony...and I really want this to work...”_

               Sharon sighed turning on her bedside lamp and grabbing her laptop. She should be paid for dealing with other people’s shit. “Fine, let me look up some courses.”

_‘Thank you.’_

               “You owe me big time,” Sharon grumbles looking up different courses that she thinks would interest Maria. Finding one that was decently priced and close enough to both Maria and Natasha she jotted down their number. “I found one, I’ll call later today to get you a spot. I’ll text you when you’re good to go.”

_‘Thank you, Carter.’_

               “You’ll be paying for this Romanov. I’ll let you know when I have your favor for me. Now don’t call me again—ever.”

               There was a hum from the other side of the line before it went dead. Sharon burrowed herself further in her sheets cursing out the redheaded Russian for making her life fucking complicated. Natasha was lucky she loved Maria as a sister. Was it anyone else, Sharon would not be so nice.

*********************************************

               She’s never gone mini golfing, ever. And Maria finds that hard to believe when Natasha confesses that she’s never played. It’s cute in Natasha’s opinion how Maria’s mouth hangs open in an over exaggerated way (that mostly looks stupid on people, but is totally endearing on the Assistant Deputy Director) and how her eyes sparkle with a certain mirth to them.

               “But you’ve seduced and tracked and gone out with a tone of targets,” Maria blabbers, completely taken by surprise. “And you’re telling me not a single one of them took you mini golfing, ever?”

               Natasha lets out a chuckle before shaking her head and replies with a soft but true: “No, not a single one took me out to play this game.”

               And it’s true because most of her missions didn’t require her to actually indulge in dates unless they were specifically for her target’s timing and she herself hadn’t been really keen on dating for fear of not being able to fit in. But here she is now, with Maria in toe, dressed extremely casually for her taste but still nice on a Saturday night to participate in one of Maria’s favorite childhood memories.

               “Well, Romanov,” Maria smirks as she reaches over for Natasha’s hand, “you’re in for a really good time.”

               Natasha smiles softly at Maria’s tone and can’t help but intertwine their fingers. She normally hates hand holding, it prevents easy movement but for some reason, Maria’s hand is resting perfectly with hers. Their palms touching—connecting them, so maybe for once Natasha is okay with going through the extra maneuvering and work.

               “Just Natasha,” the redhead speaks after a moment. “Just Natasha tonight.”

               And Maria’s smirk shifts into a small smile, Natasha is letting her in and the Deputy Director would never take advantage of that. She nods and starts tugging them towards the entrance to the mini golf center.

               It’s not overly flashy but it is a Saturday night which means the place is busy. There’s 18 holes like any other time of course, but it’s entertaining because there’s neon lights adorning the tracks as well as different themed holes. Both Maria and Natasha notice there's one that seems to be Avenger themed, but they decide not to comment on it. In the back of her mind, Natasha makes a mental note to thank Sharon for reserving a spot for them and getting them the packet of as many rounds as they want for a good price.

               The pair stands in a comfortable silence while in line waiting to enter the course. Natasha observing Maria and Maria sneaking glances at the shorter woman when she isn’t looking. Maria is dressed smartly but very open, Natasha notes. The tall brunette is wearing dark shorts (the weather has been particularly warm for the past few days) that accentuate her body, a white crisp blouse that has the sleeves slightly rolled up, and a light jean jacket. She wears a pair of white wedges, making her even taller (much to Natasha’s dismay) and she leaves her hair down letting loose curls gather near the bottom. But Natasha can’t tear her eyes away from Maria’s carefree expression, the soft subtle pink gloss coating her lips and the barely there hint of mascara and thin line of eyeliner. She looks absolutely beautiful and that only serves to make the assassin more nervous.

               While she’s being analyzed (because there’s no other way to describe Natasha’s blatant staring) Maria, also takes the time to observe the smaller woman from her peripheral and the reflection of the glass booth that they’re nearing. Natasha looks relaxed in her pair of light skinny jeans and a white top with a smart played out blazer on top. She’s paired her outfit with a black pair of heels making her height difference only three inches apart (so almost their normal height difference with Maria still being taller of course). The spy’s make up is subtle no lipstick and only mascara and eye shadow bringing out Natasha’s shimmering green eyes.

*********************************************

               They reach the pricing booth in less than ten minutes and are greeted by an older gentleman who offers them a small smile.

               “Hello, regular pricing for two adults?” He asks, his voice tired from his age.

               Maria opens her mouth about to say yes, when Natasha interrupts.

               “Hello,” Natasha greets, “I actually called earlier today for the package of as many times as we want, umm the name should be under Natalie Rushman.”

               The older man nods his head as he looks over the reservation list spotting Rushman under it.

               “Why of course, that’ll be twenty-five dollars for the night. Will you be paying cash or credit?”

               Maria is surprised by the packet Natasha has chosen and is about to protest when Natasha says cash and is reaching into her pocket for her wallet. Maria goes to do the same only to stop because her right hand isn’t at her disposable. It still is gently gripped with Natasha’s, the Agent of Shield seems to realize the same thing because suddenly their hands separate.

               They blush at being caught holding each other’s hands, but luckily get distracted by the man who’s handing over the map of the mini golf tracks as well as the two mini gulf clubs and two golf balls. They walk over in silence (not an uncomfortable one) to the entrance and watch as the group in front of them is finishing the first track.

               “Do you have a preference in color?” Natasha asks, breaking the silence.

               “Hmm?” Maria is confused by the question until she looks at Natasha’s stretched out hand with the two golf balls: a light blue one and a light lilac one. “Not really, do you?”

               Natasha looks down at them before handing Maria over the purple one. “I kind of like blue.”

               (The ex-KGB agent will never admit, that the reason she likes blue is because Maria’s gaze is an icy yet totally desirable blue tint.)

Maria nods taking the purple one as well as handing over Natasha over one of the clubs (that are both green) over.

               “You ready, Natasha?” Maria questions as she sees the others move onto the next hole.

               Natasha nods and gestures towards the track. “After you.”

               Maria smiles at how chivalrous Natasha is making a note to herself that she likes this side of Natasha. Setting the lilac colored ball on the floor, Maria observes the track, it’s the first one meaning it’s the easiest. It’s a straight line one, no holes or objects to avoid a simple hole in one. The side of the track are illuminated by neon pink lights and Maria chuckles because she can’t believe she’s never been here before when she’s positive she’d discovered all the golf courses near her. She positions herself in what she deems is a proper position and is about to strike when Natasha disrupts her.

               “Any day would be good, Hill,” Natasha teases and Maria rolls her eyes.

               She’ll let it slip this once, Maria muses as she locks eyes with Natasha and lets the club make contact with a soft _clang_. The lilac golf ball glides effortlessly down the path and sinks directly into the hole with a satisfying _plop_.

               “You’re turn,” Maria mentions sauntering over to retrieve her ball while Natasha sets up.

               Natasha rolls her eyes at the cockiness behind Maria’s comment. It’s a simple hole, a straight line, a toddler could do it Natasha thinks. This was going to be a piece of cake. Setting down the blue ball Natasha shoots Maria a smile as she aligns the club with the ball. Her hit is a bit stronger than what she was expecting and the ball shoots forward hitting the small barrier further back than the hole before rolling to a stop slightly to the right of the hole.

               Maria lets out a laugh at the huff that escapes Natasha’s lips. The redheaded woman, however, walks to the ball and hits it softer this time letting it land inside the hole. She bends down to retrieve it while Maria writes down their scores before they start walking over to the next hole.

               “I’m winning,” Maria says as she sets down her ball.

               Natasha scoffs: “We just began, Hill.”

               Maria should be annoyed by the use of her last name when Natasha is forcing her to only call her Natasha, but she can’t help but like the slight bitterness to the tone. They’re both competitive women and it’s nice to be competing outside of their working environment.

               Maria smiles as she looks over the second hole, it had a slight hill in the middle but after that no obstacles, if she hit in the right angle she could make another hole in one. This time the track is illuminated in yellow lights and the music that plays in the back ground heightens, not that it’ll throw her off.

               “You sure about that?” Maria comments as she watches her ball slide over the hill and directly into the awaiting hole. Another _plop_ greeting both women, although most wouldn’t hear it.

               “Lucky shot,” Natasha replies setting herself up.

               It takes three hits before Natasha lands the ball into the hole. Maria stifles giggles at Natasha’s glowering look and they move onto the next hole.

*********************************************

               If there is one thing Natasha absolutely _loathes_ is fucking losing. The Russian woman hates losing and no matter how bright Maria's smile is or how light her laughter is Natasha would not lose in a game that was invented for children.

               They’ve reached the fifteenth hole, and Natasha hates to admit it but she’s losing badly. She’s being massacred in the simple game; Maria so far only has 21 points while she’s trailing behind with 40. And there’s still three more holes left, but even doing all the calculations possible Natasha knows there’s no way she could ever win or rectify the horrendous difference in score.

               “You okay?” Maria asks as they wait their turn for the next hole. “I mean…are you enjoying yourself?”

               Natasha turns her attention from the course in front of her, she’ll never admit it but she was studying the track (seeing if she could somehow cheat her way into getting a hole in one). She furrows her brows in confusion, sure she’s losing by a lot but she’s spending time with Maria, getting to know the woman who hides behind her Shield uniform.

               At the perplexed look Maria receives she blushes before gesturing towards Natasha.

               “You were grinding your teeth pretty hard,” Maria explains. “I could hear it and I wanted to make sure you weren’t hurting yourself.”

               This time Natasha blushes at her obvious frustration that is displayed in front of her date.

               “I’m sorry,” Natasha answers, “I just don’t like losing. But, yes, Hill…I’m having a great time.”

               “Call me Maria,” Maria replies, “if I can’t call you Romanov, then you have to call me Maria.”

               “Maria,” Natasha rolls the name around in her mouth. It’s not like she’s never had her tongue say Maria, it’s just that she’s never done it in front of the other woman out loud.

               “Are you sure?” Maria presses on, she might love this game but if her date is suffering than she doesn’t want to keep her here. She wants to enjoy a night with her date, it’s been far too long since she’s been comfortable with someone. “We can do something else if you want?”

               Natasha turns to look into cobalt colored eyes and sees Maria’s sadness about leaving the game but can tell the woman is being completely earnest by the tone of her voice.

               “No,” Natasha answers reaching over to squeeze Maria’s hand once again. “I want to finish this. You haven’t won yet, Hill.”

               Maria grins as a competitive streak ignites within in her, even though she knows there’s no way Natasha can beat her.

               “Try me, Romanov,” Maria taunts as she sets down the ball for hole numbered 16. She keeps her gaze strictly on her date (after observing the track of course: which is slightly difficult, it’s got a tunnel that lights up and then dims in different colors, followed by three surprise hole that drop the ball to the second part of the track where there’s an electric blue and green arc that the ball much go through in order to get to the landing of the actual hole) before smirking as she hits the lilac colored ball. The ball soars through the tunnel dropping into the right sided hole and travels down to the next part before still descending onto the arc and rolling directly into the hole.

               Maria smirks at the hole in one and Natasha’s jaw drops (although, Maria really wants to just let her jaw drop in surprise, she was not expecting to get lucky on her shot). It takes Natasha seven tries before she gets it into the hole. The redhead is not pleased, but they continue on.

*********************************************

               When the finish the golf course and forty minutes after they began, Maria clearly has one with only 29 points while Natasha trails behind with a whopping number of 61.

               “So clearly,” Maria starts as they take a break grabbing a drink from a vending machine, “you never have played mini golf.”

               Natasha grumbles as she takes a sip from her coke and Maria hides a smile behind a sip of water.

               “You got lucky half the time,” Natasha claims, “and I was being nice. I didn’t want you to lose at your favorite game.”

               “Oh really?” Maria chuckles raising an eyebrow at the bitter agent (which she finds totally endearing and adorable), “you sure about that?”

               “Yes,” Natasha replies firmly. “In fact let’s go at it again.”

               “You sure?” Maria questions, though she can feel the adrenaline rush in her body that excites her beyond belief.

               “What? Are you scared?” Natasha mocks.

               “Nope, you’re on Agent,” Maria states letting her competitive side takeover. “You wanna go first this time?”

*********************************************

               The score result is very similar to last time, this time Maria wins with 32 points and Natasha ends with 57. They play once more after that and Maria wins with 30 points while Natasha finishes with 54.

               “How the fuck do you make it look so easy?” Natasha pants, she doesn’t understand how Maria can play without breaking into a slight sweat.

               Maria laughs, they’ve been playing mini golf for the past two hours, and throughout their time together she’s seen the other woman grow desperate over a fun game.

               “Practice,” Maria chuckles seeing Natasha’s brows furrow in agitation. “Honest to dear god practice, Natasha.”

               “Well fuck,” Natasha says, “you clearly have a magical club or magical ball or some shit because it cannot only be practice.”

               Maria laughs harder at Natasha’s aggression. “No, really just practice. C’mon, let’s go at it one more time unless you’re too tired?”

               “Of course not,” Natasha answers (even though she’s pretty sure she’s started forming blister on her hands for gripping onto the club too tightly. “You ready to get your ass kicked, Hill?”

               Maria only rolls her eyes. “No, I’m going to help you this time, asshole.”

               “Oh,” Natasha answers as they make their way over to the first track. “So you’re going to coach me through?”

               “Mhm,” Maria hums, “first look over the track and tell me what you see.”

               Natasha sets the ball down and looks at the track, the pink lights mocking her. “I see a plain strip of fake grass and a hole where the ball has to end up.”

               Maria rolls her eyes at the deadpanned answer. “I mean do you see any obstacles, no, right? So it should be an easy shot.”

                “Yeah,” Natasha grumbles as she settles into her position, “easy as fucking pie.”

                “You’re too tense,” Maria comments, “try relaxing your shoulders.”

                Natasha rolls her shoulders before returning to her previous position. She’s stopped when Maria’s hand touch hers and a quiet stillness settles above them.

                “Here,” Maria whispers, surprising both of them by the delicacy in her tone. She pushes her body against Natasha’s and wraps her arms around the smaller woman’s figure. Her hands come to rest against the assassin’s taking them to guide her into the proper way of holding the mini golf club. “You’re going to swing lightly and then let the ball go.”

                Natasha really can’t focus on the words that leave Maria’s lips. She understood them and some part of her brain and body probably could perform the action because slowly with Maria’s guidance the club hits the ball. But all Natasha could focus on was the warm breath ghosting her neck and the strong arms around her. Looking over her shoulder, Natasha is surprised by how close Maria’s face is to hers. They’re breathing the same air, their exhalations mixing together and their gazes melting into each other. They’re torn apart by the soft _plop_ that sounds from Natasha’s first hole in one.

*********************************************

                The remaining holes are each traveled together with Maria’s hands guiding Natasha’s movements. And when they reach the 18th hole, Natasha lets out a small sigh at Maria’s insistence of her doing it on her own.

                The Russian woman sighs as she settles into the position Maria’s been coaxing her to adapt. She takes her time looking over the hardest hole in the whole course. It’s got a ramp that’s followed by a wall that the ball most jump over in order to fall onto the platform with the trick holes leading to a lowered platform (more like island) where the hole rests. Natasha swallows, if she doesn’t make the ramp or the wall the golf ball will fall into the water around the ramp and the manmade streams will lead to the island’s sand were it will impossible without using at least three hits to get anywhere near the hole.

                “You can do it, Nat,” Maria encourages, blushing slightly at the term of endearment that leaves her lips.

                Natasha hates nicknames normally, the only person who can get away with it is Clint. And even sometimes she still punches the asshole when he starts changing between Nat, Tasha, Blackie, and bunch of others. But hearing the Nat, slip from Maria’s lips warms her.

                And so with a deep breath, Natasha hears the club hit the ball followed by the harsh sound of a ball hitting the wall then the water. Well fuck if she thought life could go easy on her.

*********************************************

                When they finish the last round, Maria has no points because this was meant for Natasha to learn and Natasha has lowered her score to 40 strikes. It’s not ideal but Natasha can’t bring herself to care because she’s enjoyed her night specifically the radiating smiles sent her way.

                “I had a lot of fun,” Maria confesses at Natasha walks her over to her car. “We should do something like this again.”

                Natasha smiles and nods, “Yeah…maybe we could do dinner one night?”

                Maria lets a small smile adorn her face. “I’d like that.”

                They hover over Maria’s car, and both women are quiet waiting for the other one to say or do something. Natasha is going over her conversation with Phil and Pepper about what’s proper dating etiquette and Maria hoping (like a foolish schoolgirl, she scolds herself) that Natasha will kiss her.

                When they both realize that neither one is likely to make a move, Maria opens the door to her car and Natasha closes it behind her after Maria’s settled in. The window rolls down and Natasha bends down to bid Maria good night.

                “…I’ll text you about dinner?” Natasha questions, embarrassed by how awkward she sounds.

                “Yes, Natasha,” Maria answers, “…or maybe…I don’t know…you could join me for lunch on Monday?”

                Natasha grins at Maria’s suggestion and eagerly (but not too much, she is after all a super spy) nods, agreeing with her superior’s statement.

                “I’d like that,” Natasha echoes as they both lose themselves in each other’s gaze once again.

                This time Maria doesn’t hold back and leans in. Her lips brush Natasha’s plump ones before pulling back a light blush covering her features. The engine to her car comes to life and Natasha pulls slightly back to not be killed by the moving car. A quick goodbye and promise of lunch on Monday is thrown out before Maria is pulling out of the parking spot.

                It’s not until Maria’s car is long gone, that Natasha brushes her fingers against her lips not even caring about the foolish grin she’s sporting.

*********************************************

               So maybe Natasha Romanov hates mini golf more than the average person (but only because she never grew up with it, so she is quite horrible at it) but she possibly loves Maria Hill’s smile even more than her high distaste for the game. And even if she didn’t (like Maria’s smile, she means, which she does) and even if Sharon Carter would have her head if she didn’t at least try to make Maria’s smile last. She’s keep playing mini golf if it meant having Maria Hill smile and kiss her like that or more.


End file.
